The Month of Do-Overs!

I don’t know if it’s the proverbial “spring fever”, or what, but I seem to have taken a pretty massive fall off the fitness/eat-well wagon this month. First I had to mulligan my lifting program (which I now sort of have to do again just because I’ve decided to become a workday social butterfly), then I started just... not tracking half of what I would eat during the day, or forgetting to track everything but breakfast. I haven’t been eating very well. I totally quit planning dinner menus and shopping for those meals. I have been staying up much MUCH too late nearly every night, and though I’ve been walking more (yay cardio!) I’ve overall been pretty lazy about every other aspect of my life.

What happened??? Is this some kind of weird spring-time depression? Isn’t that sort of THE OPPOSITE of what spring is supposed to do for your mood?! *Googles*

…oh. Huh. Mayo Clinic says Seasonal Affective Disorder can happen in the Fall/Winter OR the Spring/Summer, just with slightly different symptoms. Weird.

Today is another Do-Over for me. Back to my lifting program, back to diligently tracking food, back to making the time to plan out what I’ll be cooking for dinners this week from what I already have stocked in the fridge/pantry.

I’ve had a lot of friends who have decided to do an overhaul of their bad habits and unhealthy lifestyle choices this month. It’s got me thinking a lot about myself and my vices and how I define myself by those vices. I’ve also found myself using the words “I wish” a lot lately. If wishes were fishes… but they aren’t. And there sure as hell isn’t some genie or fairy godmother or whatever-else-magical-mystical-creature-thing out there waiting to grant me all my wishes. I just need to commit to make the changes I am currently wishing for.

Some of the things on my “wish list” include:

1.       Quit smoking. FOR REALS. (I know I added this as a May goal, but I’m being honest with you: it ain’t happening thus far. I’m not even trying. NOT. EVEN. TRYING. It’s shameful.)

2.       Start looking forward to a Saturday morning workout instead of Friday night drinking.

3.       Make a chore schedule and just GET THAT SHIT DONE.

4.       Be diligent about meal planning and reign in the out of control grocery spending. (I have more to say on this in a minute.)

5.       Finish the damn Stronglifts program. It’s easy! It’s quick! IT WORKS! Just DO IT.

6.       Start running. Even if it’s just doing intervals for 15-20 minutes twice a week. Your heart will thank the hell out of you. Don’t feel like doing the run? Walk it out. Walking is just as, if not better, for you. Something tells me this may make it a lot easier to quit smoking as well.

I know I’m a big poo-pooer on cardio – because, honestly, if you’re ONLY going to do cardio and you’re going to do 1.5 - 2 hours (moderate to high intensity) or more of it a day, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Especially if you aren’t eating enough and/or enough of the right things (read: protein). Maintaining muscle mass is SO SO SO IMPORTANT. I can’t stress that enough. And if you’re doing a lifting routine that is legit circuit training, you’re getting the cardio and the strength in all at once. Almost every strength training program I’ve done or attempted to do was circuit training up until this point. I got my cardio in with my lifting and I’ve been spoiled. Stronglifts is about as opposite from circuit training as you can get, and I need to get some cardio in my life. Even if it means just walking – and that needs to be more than just 20 minutes on my lunch break a couple times a week (which is not to say this doesn’t count – it absolutely does). My body composition is changing like-whoa and I’ve lost another 1% of body fat since I did my last measurement at the end of March. That’s awesome and I’m proud of myself for that, but I also know that I could be working so much harder and not half-assing as much as I have been. I have some growing up to do and I need to really start thinking about what I want out of my life and getting my priorities straight just in general.

Now, speaking on the groceries: I’m not entirely sure if I’m being frivolous with my grocery money or if groceries have just gotten REALLY FREAKING EXPENSIVE. I’m thinking it’s a combo of both, but meal planning is going to save me money even if it’s just a few bucks and I need to get with it on that. Does anyone else feel like their grocery bills have skyrocketed lately even though you’re buying pretty much the same stuff you always have?